Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Would this happen in England?

Within the hour, Gotham's Cardinal Edward Egan issued a statement on the taking of Communion by the thrice-married ex-mayor:The Catholic Church clearly teaches that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God. Throughout my years as Archbishop of New York, I have repeated this teaching in sermons, articles, addresses, and interviews without hesitation or compromise of any kind. Thus it was that I had an understanding with Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, when I became Archbishop of New York and he was serving as Mayor of New York, that he was not to receive the Eucharist because of his well-known support of abortion. I deeply regret that Mr. Giuliani received the Eucharist during the Papal visit here in New York, and I will be seeking a meeting with him to insist that he abide by our understanding.In its response, Team Rudy said it would welcome the meeting, but with a twist: Giuliani's faith "is a deeply personal matter and should remain confidential" according to his spokeswoman.The move is a notable change of public tack by the occupant of 452 Madison. In an early 2007 TV interview, when asked how he'd "come down" on public officials who defy church teaching -- Giuliani included -- Egan said that the politicos named were "all friends of mine."

9 comments:

Yes, with the current Cardinal running the show. He seems overly interested in cosying up to the establishment and hob-nobbing with a privileged caste of recusants. He paid one establishment figure for one day a week's worth of political advice (and a fat lot of good that did anyone) who then promptly wrote a barking mad piece for The Tablet. He lays on a series of lectures by establishment figures in the Cathedral and who cares about that, frankly?

Methinks Volpius' "No" was a response to the possibility of our cardinal making a similar public denunciation as Cardinal Egan. On the other hand, Red Maria's "Yes" seems to be a response to the possibility of a Guiliani-type receiving Holy Communion from our bishops.

Assuming my interpretation is correct, their respective 'no' and 'yes' amount to the same thing - and I would heartily agree with them.

One of my pet gripes about the hierarchy here in the US is their ‘cozying up’ to people of wealth and power. Too much socializing, too many elaborate dinners and other social functions. The desire to ‘see and be seen’ among the rich and powerful – and, ultimately, to be identified with them.

Granted, there is some historical basis for this as the ‘poor, immigrant’ Catholic Church in the US was looked down upon by the WASP establishment for generations. Many in the hierarchy see this as the Church ‘coming into Her own’ in the public square. It came to a head in the Kennedy years and was epitomized by the election of Fr. Robert Drinan, S.J. (RIP) to Congress in 1971.

While the Church’s mission is to all and Her influence in public life is important, the goal is to bring all to Christ - not to water-down His message to accommodate the world. It would appear that our hierarchy started out with the former intention, but in many cases ended up with the latter.

Yes, Our Lord sat down with “publicans and sinners” - but it was to convert them, not to be converted to their ways. Familiarity breeds contempt.

I'm afraid that members of the hierarchy here in England do much the same thing, Gor.What they clearly haven't grasped is that such overt kowtowing to establishment figures isn't worth a hill of beans in political terms and may even be counterproductive.In this healthily undeferential age, smart operators - like the National Secular Society, for example - won't hesitate to draw attention to and negatively spin the hierarchy's hamfisted behind-the-scenes political lobbying activities.How I laughed when a CES bureaucrat defended her agency's hopeless press and public affairs record by saying that the CES did know what it was doing and was speaking to ministers and so forth.That's what happened with the SORs I told her crushingly and it didn't work then, did it?

Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia, et ubi ecclesia vita eterna

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